Something as simple as software to prevent extended firings of a thruster for any reason would have worked. In a LEO satellite it's constantly being exposed to night/day cycles and isn't in danger of draining the batteries in safe mode, no matter what orientation it is. LEO satellites have low-bandwidth TT&C (tracking telemetry and control) omnidirectional antennas and radio systems in the L and S bands that don't particularly care about the orientation of the satellite. Code as simple as "if thruster tries to fire for greater than period of time, call exception, place satellite in safe mode" would have worked. Using ground based TT&C systems it's possible to manually reorient a satellite in safe mode, or query what its star tracker sees.